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lb_lee"To live in harmony with all intelligences, we must relinquish our ideas of personhood. Just as we abstracted this concept to include corporations and environmental bodies, so now we must include artificial intelligences. --the Machinehood Manifesto"
Blurb: (from back cover) It's 2095 and humanity is entirely dependent on pills that not only help them stay alive but allow them to compete with artificial intelligence in an increasingly competitive gig economy. All that changes when the Machinehood, a new and mysterious terrorist group whose operatives seem to be part human, part machine, simultaneously attacks several major pill funders. They issue an ultimatum: stop all pill production in one week. Global panic ensues, and Welga Ramirez, executive bodyguard and ex-special forces, is pulled back into intelligence work by the government that once betrayed her. But who are the Machinehood and what do they really want?
Why is it worth your time?: This book was nominated for both a Hugo and a Nebula, so it's pretty good! Divya has degrees in computational neuroscience and signal processing, so she knows her stuff, and her AIs act like AIs, not humans in tinfoil suits. This book is also the first time I've read about cybernetic headmates and group mind as neutral or positive things, rather than just the Borg. Throughout the entire book, Welga is accompanied by her body-implanted AI assistant, Por Que, who speaks and suggests and then becomes more self-directed and more present in the final quarter, and the thought-dialogue swaps between plural and singular pronouns. This is a rare case where I'm putting the "median" tag in without the author's statement. Also, this book is about older characters with established, loving relationships with each other, which is refreshing to read; the couples have been together for years, the families love each other, and the conflict follows suit. If you want a nice long sci-fi book with cyborg Buddhists, give this a shot!
Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, cofronting, median, setting-specific, nonhumans [AI, robots]
Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments
Access Notes: Available as paper book, ebook, audiobook, and on CD.
Misc Notes: Nominated for a Hugo and a Nebula, won a couple reader's choice awards. You can read the first three chapters and the full Machinehood Manifesto for free on machinehood.com!
Blurb: (from back cover) It's 2095 and humanity is entirely dependent on pills that not only help them stay alive but allow them to compete with artificial intelligence in an increasingly competitive gig economy. All that changes when the Machinehood, a new and mysterious terrorist group whose operatives seem to be part human, part machine, simultaneously attacks several major pill funders. They issue an ultimatum: stop all pill production in one week. Global panic ensues, and Welga Ramirez, executive bodyguard and ex-special forces, is pulled back into intelligence work by the government that once betrayed her. But who are the Machinehood and what do they really want?
Why is it worth your time?: This book was nominated for both a Hugo and a Nebula, so it's pretty good! Divya has degrees in computational neuroscience and signal processing, so she knows her stuff, and her AIs act like AIs, not humans in tinfoil suits. This book is also the first time I've read about cybernetic headmates and group mind as neutral or positive things, rather than just the Borg. Throughout the entire book, Welga is accompanied by her body-implanted AI assistant, Por Que, who speaks and suggests and then becomes more self-directed and more present in the final quarter, and the thought-dialogue swaps between plural and singular pronouns. This is a rare case where I'm putting the "median" tag in without the author's statement. Also, this book is about older characters with established, loving relationships with each other, which is refreshing to read; the couples have been together for years, the families love each other, and the conflict follows suit. If you want a nice long sci-fi book with cyborg Buddhists, give this a shot!
Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, cofronting, median, setting-specific, nonhumans [AI, robots]
Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments
Access Notes: Available as paper book, ebook, audiobook, and on CD.
Misc Notes: Nominated for a Hugo and a Nebula, won a couple reader's choice awards. You can read the first three chapters and the full Machinehood Manifesto for free on machinehood.com!
